Traditional hydraulic or mechanical methods of steering, braking, accelerating and otherwise controlling an automobile or other type of vehicle may be directed by drive-by-wire techniques. In general, drive-by-wire techniques may replace a mechanical or hydraulic connection between a control device and an associated vehicle component with a wired connection. The wired connection may transmit electronic messages to direct a vehicle component based on action taken by a driver of the vehicle.
Drive-by-wire techniques may use a sensor module to detect a control action by a driver of a vehicle. A control action may include, for example, turning a steering wheel, depressing a brake pedal, or depressing an accelerator pedal. The sensor module converts the detected action into a digital signal and uses a wire connection to send the digital signal to a control module. The control module physically controls a vehicle component to perform an action in response to the received digital signal. For example, to steer an automobile using drive-by-wire techniques, a sensor module detects the direction in which the driver of the automobile turns the steering wheel. The sensor module uses a wired connection to send a digital signal to a control module that physically controls the front wheels of the automobile. The control module receives the message and turns the front wheels in the direction indicated by the received signal.